The expected chaos did not descend upon Golden穗城, and the direction of the situation completely exceeded Bei'er's expectations.
As the shuji officer of several city lords, he naturally knew what breaking the city meant—plunder, killing, disorder, liuwang... Whether it was knights, rioters, or pirates who entered the city, there was no essential difference. So was His Majesty Tifeike's suppression of the rebellion, and so was the new Duke's position.
The city's food and wealth are the best rewards for the duoquan, and it is a matter of course to take as much as possible for oneself, just as nobles are born more noble than ordinary people.
Historical records have also repeatedly proven its correctness.
However, this time the situation was completely different—not only did LuoLan's army not attack the city residents, but it also launched relief and pacification work. A large pile of wheat found in the Duke's castle was cooked into wheat porridge and distributed to the starving people. A large number of recruitment notices were posted in the center of the square. Participants could not only get food, but also receive a certain amount of remuneration! Don't LuoLan's soldiers mind that these things that should have belonged to them were given away to a group of irrelevant people for free? Did the Fourth Prince go to Golden穗城 from thousands of miles away just to squander his vault?
Looking through various books, Bei'er had never seen such an absurd precedent in history.
However, these only made him feel surprised at most, and another thing made the shuji officer feel deep fear.
That was the castle fire a few days ago.
The claim that rats set the fire was full of loopholes. He had served three dukes and lived in the castle for more than twenty years, and he had never found the entrance to the secret passage.
For this life-and-death escape route, it must be designed to be very hidden and safe, even the inside is difficult to find traces, let alone invade from the outside. If those guys had this ability, they would not have been reduced to black street rats.
The fire was set by LuoLan's people.
After realizing this, Bei'er felt as if something was tightly clenched in his heart.
For the first time, the nobles were no longer nobler than the common people, and their lives were as insecure as those who were filled into the city walls.
Perhaps even more dangerous.
The large families who had not yet been wiped out by LuoLan obviously thought of this, and their reaction was very direct, which was to leave Golden穗城... and even leave Graycastle.
So what's next?
Will such a thing happen to him?
In recent days, the shuji officer's hair has fallen out in clumps, and the blank area on the top of his head has become larger and larger.
This fear is by no means from empty-headed thinking. In the past ten years, he has been called a noble without a title, or the closest noble to a noble—he has served many lords, is knowledgeable, and has lived more than most children of aristocratic families. Because of this, whether it was Jia西亚's looting or the change of power in the Eastern Territory, he had survived safely. Even if the people in the city were sifted through like cut straw, he still had the energy to observe and record those scenes.
But now, Bei'er can hardly fall asleep even when he sleeps.
Although that powerful army has not yet laid a hand on any non-nobles—even ordinary people who have served large families, he is really afraid to be sure that the other party will still do so in the future.
He couldn't beg those families to take him away, because he was still of commoner blood. He was also unwilling to sit still and wait for death, and his heart always thought he had to do something.
In front of the flickering candlelight, the shuji officer turned his gaze to the Golden穗城 Annals that were still being written.
Thinking of what he had written, Bei'er's heart couldn't help but tremble.
That's right, I almost forgot about this...
Then he quickly turned to the last few pages, tore them off, and lit the scraps of paper one by one until they turned to ashes.
No, maybe that's not enough.
Bei'er thought for a moment, took out a quill pen, dipped it in ink, and stood on the paper.
"No matter what the result, you must record it truthfully, understand?" – The words of Duke Weilian sounded in his ears.
Of course, he will now record it truthfully.
This is the duty of a shuji officer.
However, there is no absolute objectivity in this world. He now lives in a city ruled by LuoLan, and it is not strange to have a little bias, or rather, this is a part of objectivity.
Bei'er took a deep breath and quickly put down the pen.
"The envoy sent by the great King LuoLan. Wimbledon arrived at his loyal Golden穗城 today..."
*******************
Outside Chishui City, First Army camp.
"Your Majesty, there is a secret letter from the Eastern Territory."
Nightingale jumped out of the mist, holding a gray falcon in her hand. The latter raised its claws at LuoLan, grumbling dissatisfiedly, as if complaining that the letter was too heavy—its claws were tied with six rolls of paper, almost occupying all the space of its legs. It was not until Nightingale handed over a handful of grilled fish that the flying messenger calmed down.
Uh, this can't be considered a secret letter anymore.
LuoLan unfolded the six densely written strips of paper in turn, quickly browsed them, the sender was TieFu, and the main content was a routine post-war summary and situation report.
The first half was exactly the same as he had predicted. The Eastern Front Army easily captured Golden穗城. Mortars showed great power in the battle. Faced with the fire delivery efficiency far exceeding that of twelve-pound field guns, the enemy had no power to fight back even in the siege battle.
But seeing the second half, LuoLan was a little surprised and let out a "Huh".
"What's wrong? Is there a problem over there?" Nightingale asked.
"Well... it can't be regarded as a problem, but it's just a little strange," he handed the fifth piece of paper to the other party, "Look here."
"Burning the dungeon for imprisoned nobles?" Nightingale glanced over it and immediately grasped the key point, "This wasn't your order?"
LuoLan shook his head, "No, I only told him that he is fully responsible for the Eastern Front war."
"Then... what's strange?" she asked puzzled, "Since he is fully responsible, it is normal to take any action, right? Besides, those guys themselves have bad intentions. They haven't surrendered to you for so long. Now that they're swept clean, they can also take this opportunity to clear out the rats, which can be regarded as killing two birds with one stone."
"What you said is also right..." LuoLan touched his chin, but he always felt in his heart that this handling method was a bit too 艺 —the Eastern Territory is where the Second Prince has lived for a long time. Occupying the city is only the first step, and the next secret struggle with the surrendered nobles is the key. Therefore, he handed over most of the new officials trained by the City Hall to the east, and appointed TieFu, who came from the 沙民, to be the commander of the Eastern Front Army, in order to deal with the complicated aristocratic relations.
According to his prediction, after TieFu took Golden穗城, in order to clear out the enemy, there was a high probability that he would use his interrogation skills to the extreme—even the high-level priests of the church could not survive the Mojin people's torture, let alone those delicate nobles. Through bloody interrogation and execution, the old power of the nobles will be destroyed step by step, so as to establish a new order.
Burning it directly with a fire seems a bit inconsistent with TieFu's style.
LuoLan thought for a while and decided to put this little surprise behind him and ask about it after the two armies meet—after all, as Nightingale said, the effect of this fire was surprisingly good, and the large families were directly frightened and didn't care about their own fiefs and began to flee to foreign countries in droves.
At this speed, 海风郡 and other territories should also be completely controlled by the City Hall within a month. He originally thought that the situation on the Eastern Front would be deadlocked for a long time, but he did not expect that it now has a tendency to exceed the progress of the Western Front.